Yes the portal joke felt shoehorned into the game, but are you saying that it ruined the entire game? What if you never found that scroll? Would the game suddenly have been more fun? And this game was intended to be a reboot. Didn't you say that a proper reboot makes a nod to the franchise, but doesn't copy it entirely?

He's a critic. It's pretty obvious that he plays through (most of) these games thoroughly and nitpick at every little thing in them.

ranyilliams:i think you should stop using the whole "like god of war...but" joke...its getting old.

Old or not, it's still a valid point and needs making.

The thing is, though, God of War's gameplay--and the creators even admitted to this--was actually inspired by Lament of Innocence, another CastleVania game, and I feel like this game sort of just improves on the gameplay LoI offered. Only with quick-time events. God awful quick-time events. And repetitive combat. This was supposed to be a good 3-D CastleVania game... I don't think we'll ever get one, though this one's at least breaking mediocrity...

Fuckin' Christ Konami, were you THAT scared of innovating Castlevania that you had to rip off God of War so entirely? Ugh. I'm sick of those 2D handheld games because they're all the EXACT SAME GAME but this isn't any better. Lament of Innocence wasn't too bad, a step in a decent direction.

I actually bought LoS before this review. About a few weeks actually. And to be honest, I didn't mind it much. It was a more or less, leave it or take it to me. Like it or not. The camera was annoying. It's never fun to be slapped in the back of the head by something jumping into camera sight from way the hell out of sight. The other thing that always made me raise a brow to it was, Gabriel looked great, everyone else looked kind of funky. Well him and like the Lords. They looked like they got worked on, everyone else looked like they were just thrown in to take up space.

Let me see, oh right. The scenery was really nice. It had a way of making you feel like a small person in a big mean world. The downside to that is, the camera sucks harder then a french whore with ten dollars. The combat was okay, everything was easy to get. The difficulty was what you would expect from a Castlevania game. So all in all I have to agree with Yahtzee on this one. But I think if you need something to kill time while you wait on a better game, get it. It is pretty long.

It's obvious that Yahtzee has never played any of the Castlevania games except this "one". Otherwise he wouldn't have bashed it the way he did. It stuck with some of the concepts that makes Castlevania, castlevania and that is the use of magic and secondary weaponry. It is hard to take the original series from 2D and 3D modeling into this new high tech digital art styles being used now- a-days. They did it this way because it was EASIER. Yes I know they ripped styles from two other fabulous series.I have played Shadow of the colossus. Hell pre-ordered both it and Okami (which Yahtzee has yet to review Ps2 version) before Yahtzee EVER reviewed it. I have also played God of war which too is an amazing series. This Castlevania game was to give konami a fresh start. I partially blame Kojima, but anyways, because last year's release of Castlevania was complete and utter ass/ shit. And we all know how "most" Wii games turn out. Konami needed this new beginning. Castlevania is an old series it is literally up there with Mario and Zelda because of the year. So, instead of listening to Yahtzee "all the time" go out and play the game for yourself , I personally enjoyed it and the puzzles are fun.

All I am saying is stop THE BANDWAGON. I used to follow G4tech tv/ X-play. This Is how I knew/saw if I was going to like a game or not, by looking at the gameplay and seeing how it was treated. This is how I knew to BUY: Okami, Shadow of the colossus, and Assassin Creed for example (plus i am a BIG fan of Prince of Persia ^^). G4 now is Bleh, they used to be Cool, now they suck in my opinion.

My boyfriend (and yes I am A GIRL) too hated Resident Evil 5, but he only played like what 10-20 mins of it before he said he hated it. One of my friends bought the game, he played it with one of my friends and decided to give it another shot, yes he actually liked it! I still hated it and love Resident Evil 1, 2 & 4 were my best choices, but that is me. Same with Devil may cry 4, he actually likes it too. I don't like it, as much as DMC's 1 & 3 seeing as these were my favorite.

I like Yahtzee, he's hilarious his reviews do in fact make for great shitz and giggles. But I just wish people would give games a try unless from a true GUT standpoint you know the game is awful. For instance, Halo 3=BAD. I hate halo. I Loved the first one that too me WAS/IS the best Halo out there. Anyways Looking forward to Dues Ex 3 and Bullestorm <3 Woohoo. Bye~ I hope no one takes this huge ass comment offensively as it wasn't meant to be just advice/suggestion is all.

Sheo_Dagana:Fuckin' Christ Konami, were you THAT scared of innovating Castlevania that you had to rip off God of War so entirely? Ugh. I'm sick of those 2D handheld games because they're all the EXACT SAME GAME but this isn't any better. Lament of Innocence wasn't too bad, a step in a decent direction.

ranyilliams:i think you should stop using the whole "like god of war...but" joke...its getting old.

He'll stop using it when game makers stop doing it

Exactly what I wanted to say! Thank you for saying it! He made a stamp to joke about how many companies keep making and selling games that are pure knockoffs of other famous games, but still fails at being at least good at copying. The sad part is that they keep doing it, and thus, keep earning the stamp in the face.

ranyilliams:i think you should stop using the whole "like god of war...but" joke...its getting old.

He'll stop using it when game makers stop doing it

Exactly what I wanted to say! Thank you for saying it! He made a stamp to joke about how many companies keep making and selling games that are pure knockoffs of other famous games, but still fails at being at least good at copying. The sad part is that they keep doing it, and thus, keep earning the stamp in the face.

ranyilliams:i think you should stop using the whole "like god of war...but" joke...its getting old.

He'll stop using it when game makers stop doing it

Exactly what I wanted to say! Thank you for saying it! He made a stamp to joke about how many companies keep making and selling games that are pure knockoffs of other famous games, but still fails at being at least good at copying. The sad part is that they keep doing it, and thus, keep earning the stamp in the face.

JustaGigolo:I wish they would just make more handheld 2D castlevania games, instead of God of War knock offs.

As much as I love handhelds, why stop there? Why not also make console 2D Castlevania games? Afterall, if titles like LittleBigPlanet and New Super Mario Bros. Wii proved anything, it is that 2D platformers are far from obsolete.

It's kind of sad to bear witness to the fate of the Castlevania franchise. While Symphony of the Night isn't up to everyone's tastes, it still at least deserves respect for proving that 2D platformers had a place in the world during a time when everyone and their dog was jumping onto the 3D bandwagon. But instead of getting the message, especially after the dismal failure of both N64 games, Konami just decided to keep shoving 3D Castlevania games down console gamers throats no matter how poorly the market responded to them. I suppose trying one more time wasn't a bad idea, but you would think they would have learned by now that the 3D games aren't the way to go for the series.

Mr.Pandah:While all your points are pretty much spot on...I'm still having a blast with it. I don't find it to be a bad imitation of God of War(mostly because I only played #3 at a friend's house for about an hour). The combat works for me, the camera mostly focuses on what I need to see, and I love the scenery so far. I was actually just booting it up when I saw that you posted this video. Weird.

Just to add some pros to the experience...I think the Voice Acting is pretty good, and its certainly an enjoyable experience thus far. A lot of creature variety and nothing is feeling particularly dragged out surprisingly.

^ This. I like it a lot, actually. Clearly originality is deeply overrated. I've been advocating for a God of War Germanic Edition forever. bahaha

Yeah, just saw about that in a post above. Didn't know it was inspired by Lament of Innocence. Never played it, though. Now I'm curious and I wanna play it. But that actually worsens what this Castlevania did and the stamp it deserved. First, although God of War was based on LoI gameplay, I also read that at least he brought something new to it. Something new AND GOOD to the GAME. I think it was the quick time events, and I know they are a pain when not used right, but I like how they're thrown in GoW and even Yahtzee said in his review of GoW3 that in this game the QTEs make sense and complete the gameplay, instead of just being thrown in like all the games that try to copy it. Second, with the former sentence I defend the point of the stamp: GoW was a copy with something more and that improved the gameplay copied. The games that deserve the "Like God of War But..." stamp don't copy from the inspiration of GoW. They base their entire gameplay on GoW, completely forgetting its own inspirations and improvements. And to top it off, they do it poorly, causing frustration and boredom on gamers. So, they ARE "Like God of War, But" they suck at trying to be it. If Castlevania was truly the inspiration to GoW, then this Castlevania developers had no reasons for not exploring what LoI did RIGHT and putting that in their game!That's what I conclude after knowing GoW's gameplay was based on another game. Now I have to play it and find out how much of it was copied.

Sonic Doctor:Nope, I disagree. It is a great game and I love all the other game references, it was good for a laugh. It definitely feels like a Castlevania game, and you can go back and find things you missed, I guess he missed that, well he did when he mentioned the discs, but I don't see a problem because all a person has to do burn the game their hard drive, disc swap problem solved.

Oh, and in my opinion, if people that complain that a game is too long, don't have the right to complain that a game is too short. So what is this magical number of game length I never here of? Complaining about a game being too long, is like complaining about getting too much tasty frosting that you love on your piece of CAKE.

Which is a lie of course :P

I looks like I will have to break out the word "seriously" again, like I mentioned in my thread about words I am addicted to using.

Seriously, I meant everything I said about Castlevania: Lords of Shadow.

Don't worry bro, I'm actually at your side, this game is awesome from start to finish and as I said before, it feels more like Super Castlevania IV with combos and 3D (and less awesome music) than anything else, even GoW since the combat feels distinct yet familiar...

But I feel people are going for the easy cheap shot and calling it a knockoff and stuff. Ok go for it, I still found it... Fun, what according to Mafia's review, Games are supposed to be.

ranyilliams:i think you should stop using the whole "like god of war...but" joke...its getting old.

Old or not, it's still a valid point and needs making.

The thing is, though, God of War's gameplay--and the creators even admitted to this--was actually inspired by Lament of Innocence, another CastleVania game, and I feel like this game sort of just improves on the gameplay LoI offered. Only with quick-time events. God awful quick-time events. And repetitive combat. This was supposed to be a good 3-D CastleVania game... I don't think we'll ever get one, though this one's at least breaking mediocrity...

I don't support this argument... but for one reason only.

If you say Castlevania in a party everyone goes like: "yeah I know that game" "awesome" "Bring back SoTN" or "yeah I used to touch myself at nights thinking of Alucard"But you inmediately follow it up by saying "3D" everyone drops to the floor, bleeding through their eyeballs and start tearing their clothes off... The thing is that the same shit used to happen to Mario, Zelda and even Metroid (Or even Duke Nukem)... And now I think we can all agree their transition felt natural and almost required to 3d.

I'm not saying C:LoS is the best we can hope to get in a 3D Castlevania, but it's a step forward and besides, for the sake of the argument, Lamment was good enough to inspire GoW... So I guess we have a good 3D already? Disregarding LoS for the "like GoW like but stamp" is lazy. "Look up my previous post as of why"

But then again it's a love it or hate it game, I thought I was going to despise it because I hated Jericho (previous game by Mercury Steam) and it shows on the monster designs (not scary) but actually it was the contrary. I loved the game and every moment of it.

Oh and the thing about skipping Puzzles, true that its lazy but most players are lazy and if confronted by puzzles they'll just groan and throw a fit because they aren't being entertained in the last 5 seconds by monsters splattering all over the screen. So I can imagine people would have complained and wished there was a "skip puzzle feature" if the game hadn't included one.

I've heard nothing but bad things about this game, even from people who were REALLY looking forward to it.Also I played the demo and it made my want to stab my eyes out (although my ears loved Patrick Stewart, but even his godly voice couldn't polish this turd).

"The game was developed by the same company that made "Clive Barker's Jericho". That's all you need to know".

Dear God, the two 3D Castlevania games for the Playstation 2 (Lament of Innocence and Curse of Darkness) and Harmony of Despair for XBLA were better crafted than this train wreck. At least those three, despite their faults (and there are many of them, believe me), didn't have me banging my head against the wall. I only played the demo before the review, and it left me feeling uneasy.

And finally, switching discs to go back to previous areas? Really? What the hell is that!?

Never played a Castlevania game myself and this was the one time I was actually interested but of course we end up with another shitty gow clone. Come to think of it I don't think anyone has made a god of war style of game yet that wasn't shit. Ah well maybe some day some company will figure out how to not fail at doing so.

Guys, the game is a prequel. Even the prequel that was released before this one (Lament of Innocence) didn't have Dracula as a boss.

The game does have it's problems, what with the Camera Angles, and the game pulling tricks on you at the beginning so you might miss a few jumps thanks to said camera angles. In the end, you get used to this (about four chapters in) and this is no longer a problem. To me this game is worth at the very least a rental.

Honestly, there's no need for blindingly following Yahtzee just because this game has two Portal references (yes, i groaned at it too, I suppose i ought to have shut off World of Warcraft years ago just because a couple of goblin NPCs referenced Rocket Man).

This doesn't feel like a Castlevania game because it was intended as a different game (Lords of Shadow), but then Konami as the publisher brought out it's "names that make more money" stamps and picked Castlevania, and told the developers they need to get Dracula in there.So if you do play it, keep in mind it's actually a different game, then you wont be as annoyed by all the missing pieces.

But even as it's own game, it doesn't really stack up, there are better GoW like games out there, so check them out first, unless you are really into the MGS storytelling then get this game.Not my cup of tea tho.

joemegson94:Left 4 Dead 2 has a Portal reference and that game's awesome.

A song from Portal is not a reference, it's just a... song from Portal. Not trying to be funny, just throwing in a song. Like they use a song from Half-Life during the Valve logo, I guess that's a Half-Life reference, oooh!

No. No, a Portal reference is using "cake is a lie" and expecting a laugh. It wasn't even particularly guffaw-worthy when Portal did it, it was just a quirky off-beat section that was kinda designed to mess with your head a bit. So any other game thinking a "cake is a lie" reference will provide the player with anything other than complete distaste for their lack of humour or subtlety, and one more name added to the Kill List.

Very funny vid Yahtzee, well done. I laughed my ass off almost the entire time!

My main gripe with Castlevania games in recent times (i.e. Symphony of the Night and beyond) is the Kojima syndrome. Meaning that the story gets more and more convoluted without needing to be. Many times (both in GBA/DS an in the shitty PS2 games) I was left with my wtf face when I read the story.

This one upped the ante with having Kojima himself making it more of a convoluted mess. That they needed to make a reboot says that pretty much they were f*cking it pretty badly and from what I've seen LoS doesn't seem to be rectifying matters. Only making them worse.

Why they couldn't keep the story simple (go to castle, kill Drac) and make the journey memorable instead of making these crappy stories up?